When 387s were introduced on the Thameslink route did they ever run at 110mph?
Where would they have been able to run in service at 110mph if, as noted above, the OHLE south of Bedford is only good for 100mph?
I was just making sure given they were designed for 110mph running and the line speed limit on the fast lines is 125mph...
When I signed the midland main line I could never find anything in writing in the sectional appendix which suggests this is the case. I would like to know whether it genuinely is the case and if so where it's published.
387s didn't exceed 100 on the MML
All previous emu's 317/319/377 were 100mph max.
Surely they will switch the 360's over to the SL north of Bedford?
And was;t it said that if the bedpan OLE is not upgraded before the bi-modes enter service - they will run on diesel between London and Bedford in order to run at 125mph?
no problem, i've just been on a Class 802 running the majority of Edinburgh to Newcastle and V.V on diesel; despite the line being electrified for years and having had ample time to upgrade the supply for all these extra new electric trains! It is absolute madness!
Why was the plan to do such an upgrade so many years after the electric and bimode trains enter service?
They don’t on the ECML either
Network Rail still need to do power upgrades to provide enough juice for the much higher demand that's needed now than before. So until that works done TPEs 802s will have to run on diesel.
GTR don't have a safety case for running above 100mph. Hence why the 387s when both with Thameslink and now with Great Northern don't run any higher than 100mph.
Which rather blows a hole in the case for using 387s out of Kings Cross: part of the reason was to allow 110mph running on the fast lines which would help when mixed with 125mph LNER stock. Might just as well have stuck with the more comfortable 365s.
I think the Slow lines remain limited to 80mph between Bedford and Kettering? Which in itself seems madness. If they had been upgraded to 100mph we might have seen someone propose extending some Thameslink services to Kettering, or reopen Irchester Station to act as a park and ride for Rushden. But then we're getting into the realms of coordinated planning.
With what stock? Taking 12-car 700s north of Bedford all day is overkill and there aren't enough of them - indeed it would diminish the case for the planned EMR 360 service. If electrification and the track work had been done in time I still doubt we would have seen extra stock ordered for Thameslink services to Kettering.
I thought the reason was technical..that reconfiguring the 387 pantograph configuration for 110mph would make it incompatible with the Hitchin - Cambridge - Ely - Kings Lynn OLE.
Sounds like the work to upgrade the OLE south of Beford for 125mph is seen as non urgent as any bi mode trains can use diesel power to do 125mph over the 50 mikes or so. A way of deferring the cost to another day
Although it does call into question the validity of environmental claims about reducing emissions. The Transpennine Class 802 are already travelling on diesel beneath the wires to Newcastle due to inadequate power supply. If the EMR services do it too, we are being conned.
I hope they will be able to start out from St Pancras on electric and use it for the inner London section which includes most of the acceleration. And if possible also put the pan up somewhere on the approaches so they arrive into St Pancras on electric too.
They will need to do this as otherwise members of parliament will notice the diesel and start asking awkward questions....
In which case why bother with buying bimodes for the express services when DMUs could operate at 125mph under the wires all the way?