) for this type of line, its the training Guards and and Drivers up on them and they would be a relatively small fleet, so they'd be non-standard. 
Mid-Last year (before timetable change) there seemed to be a regular diagram for a 8/12(?) car 321 operating the 0730 NRW - LST.
Yes. As for the Norwich diagrams, in the last couple months before the timetable change, quite often a pair of 321's would deputise for a 90+Mark3 formation on diagram 512. I'm not sure if there is a morning service using 321's from Norwich, but there's a few services that start from Stowmarket which are operated by 360's.
whilst Pacers would be 'ideal' (I don't see how a Pacer could be ideal for anything tbh!
True, but the guards and drivers wouldn't have to be trained on the class, plus its unlikely they're going to keep 2 or 3 sets, more likely they will keep around 6 or 7. What I don't understand though is that once the hybrid three car sets are disbanded there are 33 2 car sets and 2 3 car sets. FGW are taking 9 and Northern inherit 8 so that's 17 sets. I haven't heard anything about other sets being cascaded so that means they'll still have 16 2 car sets and 2 3 cars. I know that its likely they'll release the (is it 10?) 10 153's but that's still a high number of additional carriages left uncascaded. Surely that can't be right? Or will another operator inherit something like 10 sets, but it hasn't been announced or am I missing something?
Sorry for going off topic for about the 4th time this thread. But back to the original topic, surely there is scope to oust the last 2/3 diagrams for the class? Is there anyway another couple of 350's can be released from current workings?
True, but the guards and drivers wouldn't have to be trained on the class, plus its unlikely they're going to keep 2 or 3 sets, more likely they will keep around 6 or 7. What I don't understand though is that once the hybrid three car sets are disbanded there are 33 2 car sets and 2 3 car sets. FGW are taking 9 and Northern inherit 8 so that's 17 sets. I haven't heard anything about other sets being cascaded so that means they'll still have 16 2 car sets and 2 3 cars. I know that its likely they'll release the (is it 10?) 10 153's but that's still a high number of additional carriages left uncascaded. Surely that can't be right? Or will another operator inherit something like 10 sets, but it hasn't been announced or am I missing something?
But if LM do get this 'growth build' of 350's as was mentioned earlier, than they would have a uniform electric fleet, 350's for London work and Brum-Liverpool and 323's for the Birmingham lines. Yeah, I think the 153's would be more ideal to cascade anyway, as like you say they can be put on the end of a service which may need an additional car, like Derby-Crewe (or possibly an extra two carriages in this case) but saves having to waste a 2/3 car unit on lengthening a train which needs only an extra coaches worth of capacity. If EMT get these 153's they're gonna have a huge fleet of them! I think FGW should get around 3 of these c.10 150 sets going spare as they could do with some additional capacity in the Bristol area, and Northern should get the other 7 sets, and maybe another 3/4 Northern 156's could be sent to EMT, so then these operators all gain a good amount of additional coaches.
Yeah I agree with you. Haha, don't forget the PPM.
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Oh and also who's idea was it to build 69 172 carriages which seat less people anyway, to replace 72 150 carriages? Honestly, how difficult would it be to order one extra 3 car set at least?! And now LM want to keep a few extra 150's to provide additional capacity, which is what happened with the 350>321 replacement. Surely they should anticipate some growth? The DfT and the others involved need to get some common sense. And fast.
Yeah I agree, and now there's the stupid case of a tiny fleet of 9 170's. I wonder when the 185's get released from Manchester-Scotland, if we'll see the 170's be replaced? They could go to NXEA, and the 156's be cascaded to EMT and Northern. See, enthusiasts have more common sense than the DfT and some TOC's it seems.
Yeah, well I'm fairly sure I read in the mail train section of TRUK that someone had written that some lightly loaded East Yorkshire services which a 153 could operate are being run by 158's. If this is true, and other parts of the Northern network are overcroweded, it does make me wonder why they feel they need to use the extra capacity on lines that don't warrant it. I know its not as simple as sending the 158's to the North-West but with swapping the diagrams from 158's to 153's the 158's could then take over some 156 diagrams, which could then be transferred over to Newton Heath to alleviate overcrowding in the Manchester area. How the TOC's and the DfT operate is well and truly beyond me. (Going off topic again. )Yeah I agree, and now there's the stupid case of a tiny fleet of 9 170's. I wonder when the 185's get released from Manchester-Scotland, if we'll see the 170's be replaced? They could go to NXEA, and the 156's be cascaded to EMT and Northern. See, enthusiasts have more common sense than the DfT and some TOC's it seems.
when NW fleet returns to the real TPE routes i would hope... that the two 170's on south pennine route would move back to form 4 car units.... with 3 car being the monopoly on south pennine route
it has but to comment
A 155/156 would be fine on just the Hull to Bridlington run. The problem is that most of the services run through to Sheffield anyway and those that don't tend to terminate at Hull and then form a service to York where the 90mph capability of the 158 comes in handy.
Also I think I will cease posting on this thread from now seeing as I'm doing nothing but dragging it miles off topic
.Appologies if it's been stated somewhere else, but 321411 which was noted earlier as undergoing re-furb at Ilford is now on hire to NXEA. Was seen gleeming yesterday in it's new colours on the Harwich branch shuttle, & today arriving into Colchester North from the 'Town'. Just need it in platform 4 at Ipswich nose to nose with LM liveried TOC mates 153354/364
Once the 379's enter traffic, Ilford will have THE biggest allocation of units. 61 315's, 51 317's, 94 321's, 21 360's and 30 379's. That's 257 EMU's plus the occasional Mark 3 and Sprinter which comes for tyre turning or maintenance, other TOC's EMU's visit occasionally for maintenance, so they do have a lot on their plate. And the allocation will rise by 5 more when the 322's come...